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Leaving Gravesend we began to make our way to Southend. We were to traverse from south to north, crossing three major shipping lanes in the process. The landscape of the river had changed dramatically. Gone were the small recreational boats, canoeists and communities of river birds bobbing by the wayside. In its place was an expanse, a vastness that left us feeling much more exposed. We were towered over by cargo ships and the industrial visage of the docklands. We knew that the weather would turn and we could only hope that it would hold out until we had safely alighted onto Southend pier. The southerly had forced us to paddle much of our journey on one side to prevent us from crossing the river prematurely and it was tiring work. Fifteen kilometres in the skipper made the call, that ultimately we knew was right, but was disappointing all the same. We were to abort our journey.
Scrambling on board the safety boat, we back tracked our way to Hole Haven. As the boat left us to return to Gravesend I can only imagine that we made for a pitiful sight. Soaking wet, cold, tired and as miserable as the sky we made our way to the nearest pub, which had the good grace to be a short walk from where we were dropped off. Eight hours later, having systematically made our way through the menu and our first bottle of red in quite some time, we made the difficult decision to pack up and return to London. We had consulted with all and sundry about completing our journey the following day, but ultimately the conditions were against us and safety would always reign king. Despite what we had achieved, after months of planning neither of us could shake the overriding sense of disappointment.
Technically we had made it to the sea. But we had a sense that our journey was not complete, at least not in the way we had envisaged. Six days later, in the early light of dawn we found ourselves back at Hole Haven pier. Inflating the boards one last time, we pushed off from the pier, this time into the open calmness of the ocean. The skies were unrecognisable from that which we had experienced the week before. As the sun broke through the darkness and danced upon our boards we made our way towards Southend Pier.
Words : Melanie Joe
Images : www.melandmichelle.com
Mel and Michelle in partnership with Active360 will be co-organising the first source to sea stand up paddle board relay on the River Thames in September 2016 for the Totally Thames Festival. This is a celebration of the Thames and will be a community event, focusing on SUP, encouraging people to use the river recreationally and raising awareness about water conservation. For more details or if you are interested in getting involved in the relay you can contact them by email or check out the websites below:
Website: www.melandmichelle.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/melandmichellepaddle
Email: thamesriverrelay@gmail.com
Website: www.active360.co.uk
We cannot fail to be impressed by the ladies and their challenge, not only by completing the SUP challenge but also with their planning and work with the PLA to open up the river to others. SUPboarder will certainly be following their next adventures.